The Best
by MidnightStarr
Summary: When there are things Tyson doesn't quite understand, Hilary is always there to show him the way. As it turns out she knows a lot about friendships, even the bitbeasts. And, sometimes she comes with stew. [TysonxHilary, mentions of other pairings]


**MS: **Hey everyone, I think I really need to dip a toe in the waters of Tyson and Hilary for once. Like most of what I've been posting lately, this little ficlet is tied into the world of a much bigger story I may write soon that is set 2 years after G-Revolution; so don't panic if there are elements you don't really understand. Of course if you have questions or you're interested in knowing the fine details, you can always PM me or leave it in a review and I'll get back to you shortly. Thanks so much for reading!

Hopefully they're not too OOC in this; Hilary's a little out of my element.

* * *

Hilary gently rapped her knuckles against Ray's door.

The dark-haired blader pulled it open and gave his teammate a warm smile.

"Hey, what's up?"

Hilary linked her hands together behind her back. "Hi. I was just wondering if you've seen Tyson? Oliver tried out the moose stew recipe that Josephine and Stephanie showed him and I took Tyson up a bowl but I can't find him."

Ray smiled and hummed to himself. "Uhhh..." He turned his head over his shoulder and Hilary saw familiar rosey locks decorating the edge of the bed where Mariah lounged casually, thumbing through a magazine she'd stolen earlier from Ming Ming's suitcase.

"Try going down the path to the beach Hilary! Ozuma, Lee, Steve and a few of the other guys said they were going to play some soccer before the party tonight. Maybe Tyson went with them?"

Hilary smiled brightly at Mariah's suggestion. Since being shown the beach a week before, Tyson had become almost obsessed with the magical place. She supposed that maybe she would understand it more if she had a bitbeast of her own... _'Who knows...? Maybe someday.'_

"Thanks Mariah! I'll see you guys later." Ray blushed a little before closing his door again. They really were sweet; when Tyson had first told her about Ray's lover from his home town, Hilary was pretty excited to meet who was supposed to be this amazing girl, beyblader, and best friend all wrapped into one. Because Ray deserved a special girl; Hilary had spent enough time with the Chinese blader to know that. And she wasn't disappointed.

Hilary skipped out the narrow hallway to the counter of the small chalet residence that had been constructed by the Heart's Content community. The little 4, 5 or 6-bedroom residences weren't a five-star hotel by any means, but the interlinking wooden pathways that stretched from one chalet complex to the next allowed all the teams to travel between eachother's housing units conveniently. Plus the little places had their own little kitchen areas, which was exactly where Oliver had been spending the majority of his time since milking a few Newfoundland recipes out of the Saint Shields and their friends.

All the bladers ate breakfast, lunch and dinner at the town hall, but the rest of Oliver's team certainly weren't complaining about Oliver cooking extra on his off-hours.

Hilary grabbed the foil-wrapped bowl of steaming moose stew, made her way to the porch area and shoved her toes into her flip flops before heading off down the dirt path in the direction of the Heart's Content first beach.

On her way residents smiled at her as they pulled their laundry in off the line, kids were called indoors as late evening fell on the sleepy community and Hilary really had to admit that the place had a great little-town charm.

Reminded her of Belle's town in '_Beauty and The Beast'_; made her smile.

As she stepped through the unlocked gates bordering the beach, a sign that read "Warning: Sharp Materials. NO UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY", she saw figures moving lively as a soccer ball was passed from foot to foot, chest to chest; and her target, sitting with his ass in the sand and a smile on his face.

She dropped down beside him and held out the wrapped bowl.

"What's this?"

"Stew! Oliver made it with Josephine's recipe. It's moose meat that's in it I think... Can't be worse than cod tongues." She couldn't help the shudder. No matter where they traveled, the gang always managed to find some type of food that was absolutely mortifying to eat.

Newfoundland had cod tongues. Fun times.

Tyson eagerly took the bowl out of her hands and she almost rolled her eyes... Almost, and handed him a plastic spoon. If there was anything else in the world that made Tyson happier than Dragoon, it was definitely food.

Speaking of...

Hilary looked at the white and red beyblade sitting by Tyson's feet. Bitchip empty... Just a hollow circle of red.

"Where's Dragoon?!"

Tyson looked up from a mouthful of stew and licked a brown drop from his chin. "What?! Oh!" He pointed out over the water, into the glowing horizon and it took Hilary a minute to see them. But as the familiar glimmer of rainbow colors caught her eye, they grew wide with wonder.

"Wow..." Dragoon was blue, a cool color that reminded Hilary of the wind on a cold Autumn day. Familiar, but different just the same, she watched the sacred dragon dancing around the lit sky with the orange-brown, sturdy shape of Tryhorn racing behind. A loud roar echoed up from the sands away from them and Hilary's head whipped to the left where the image of a burning predator ran along the beach beside the boys as they whooped and kicked. Even the flames licking up from Flash Leopard's armour weren't enough to hide the glow of Galeon's curled form, black and wild as he chased Lee hovering above the ground. Up above them the trill cry of a bird made Hilary's neck crane as again she caught sight of another grand bitbeast; the golden-tinged wings of Apollon as he soared above the shoreline.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

Turning back to Tyson, Hilary gulped at the sight of him. Those deep blue eyes marvelled up at the sky as the bitbeasts together rose up and up until they were a mass of swirling colors against the fading backdrop of a day well-spent.

Tyson looked like a part of his heart was up there, ...Flying along with them.

"It's beautiful... I'm glad we came to this place. Just for this."

It had been awhile since she'd seen Tyson so happy.

As the champ tore his eyes away from the colorful blur that the fast-moving creatures soon became, he stuck another spoonful of stew into his mouth and licked his lips. "I'm not a big vegetable fan, but I could eat them in stew all day long!"

Hilary laughed. "Oh Tyson..." Shaking her head and bending her knees, Hilary clasped her hands together underneath the crook of them and watched the ocean glitter as the twilight hours settled over the small community.

"You're right though... I'm glad."

"Hm?" She turned her head back to him.

"That we're here... I'm glad we listened to Max. This place, these people... It's awesome. And Ray hasn't looked like he wanted to bite my head off since we got here!" Tyson laughed, and let the sound hollow out until he was left with a contented sigh. "Even if me and Ozuma don't settle our score... Seeing all this was worth it."

Hilary nodded and tucked some chocolate-colored hair behind her ear. Tyson didn't turn to look, but he closed his eyes from the sight of the ocean in front of him. The normally-obnoxious blader didn't need to see... It was easy to keep the images of Hilary's bright, sparkling eyes in his head. Easier than anything else he'd ever accomplished before; and she was _not _allowed to know that.

"I can't say I'm totally okay with the absurd amount of drinking they do here; but I'm having fun."

Tyson opened his eyes, stirred the slowly cooling bowl of soup. "Yeah. I just wish we could share this with the world."

Hilary raised an eyebrow. "What? Share what with the world?"

Tyson gestured upward again to the bitbeasts who owned the sky; pointed to their right, the far side of the beach where towering rock cliffs met crashing ocean waves.

"Everything... This place is magic, and no one's allowed to know about it..." The look on his face was sobering, and Hilary felt momentarily hollow. Tyson spoke the truth... The secrets of Heart's Content had to remain just that; secret. If Mr. Dickenson hadn't booked them to stay here, maybe they wouldn't have even known. "I guess it makes me a little angry. It's not fair that we get to see this, and so many other deserving people don't."

"Tyson... Don't you understand why?"

The young man sighed, laid the bowl to rest in the sand. Tyson then pulled off his trademark baseball cap and almost scrunched the accessory in his hands. "Yeah, I guess."

"The best things in life are really fragile you know."

...She laughed at the look on his face.

"Uh, mind speakin' in english Hilary?"

"Tyson... Look around." He did. "What do you see?"

"Uh... Trees, back behind the houses... Dirt, sand... The water, some cliffs, and-OH!" He hissed. "And Steve hitting Lee in the nuts with a soccer ball."

They both tossed their heads back and laughed as a rash chorus of swear words and shouts erupted from the left side of the beach and Galeon roared out at his master's malcontent. It was totally an accident... At least it looked like one. But with Steve, one just never knew. Then again, Ozuma and Garland couldn't be trusted either and that made it all the more hilarious.

"Next time someone yells at me for being lazy and not wanting to play sports, I'm gonna remember this moment."

Hilary punched him in the arm. "Okay okay, settle down!" She was still giggling herself. At the end of the tirade she braced her shaking belly and sucked in a deep breath. "Woooo, alright, alright... Tyson, I didn't mean the beach."

"Then what did you mean?" He leaned back and got ready for what Tyson was sure was going to be one of Hilary's famous lectures:

_'TYSON! Don't read comic books in class!'_  
_'TYSON! Stop eating all that junk food!'_  
_'TYSON! Don't you DARE use my razor!'_

It wasn't what he got.

Lifting the white beyblade into the palm of her hand, Hilary ran her fingertip across the edges of the attack ring. "The sky, the land, and maybe even that ocean are going to be here forever, Tyson. They're strong, and unbreakable in a way that people can't really understand. Even when we pollute the world, cut down the trees, use too much water... Usually the land, it rebounds. It comes back, because it's that tough."

He listened... Listened intently. Hilary's skin was a really pretty color at this time of evening, and those eyes... Again. Tyson nodded, and made himself keep listening. "What's that got to do with beyblading?"

She placed a finger to his lips... "I was getting to that part. Tyson the magic that exists here is a secret to most people because it's way too easy to destroy."

"Bitbeasts? Easy to destroy...? Come on Hilary, think of all the cyber-bitbeasts and engineered freaks we've beaten-"

"Exactly, Tyson! ...How many of them..." She looked over at the rocky cliffs soon to be eclipsed by darkness. Hilary could still remember the slab of stone, tied to the middle of an old ferris wheel so long ago. "People have been looking for every excuse to use bitbeasts as what they weren't meant to be... Evil, Tyson. If this place is really where it all started... I know they're scared because this place could be where it all ends, too."

As it registered in his mind, Tyson's head slowly dipped downward. Hilary had a point... Dragoon was his friend... But so many people had used their bitbeasts in all the wrong ways. And it was a well-known fact that they were still valuable and still sought after in a big, big way. "It's not that they want to keep the power for themselves..."

"Right... They just want to keep it safe."

The Saint Shields' mission suddenly made a lot more sense.

Hilary continued on as a sudden breeze of evening air shifted her hair off of her shoulders. "This place is really powerful... You're right; bitbeasts are strong. United and all working toward the same goal, they're unstoppable. They just need the right people. It's like a team, Tyson."

"A team?"

"Yes; you and Dragoon are a team, aren't you?"

"Well yeah, obviously..."

"And Kai, Ray, Max, Kenny, Daichi and Hiro... They're your team too, right?"

Tyson rubbed at the back of his neck. Hilary didn't miss the sudden sour expression on his face; even if it did last for just a millisecond. "Yeah, they are. They're my best friends... I'm glad that we haven't been fighting as much over the last little while... Sometimes though, we can't help it."

Tyson almost jumped when her hand that had earlier held Dragoon, clasped his shoulder. The warmth was more consuming and a better lift in temperature than the sun that had burned brightly all day, only now to rest. It was comforting, and it was what he needed right now.

"It's normal to fight Tyson, just like Ozuma said last week. But my point is that you work hard to stay a team... When it's bad, it's awful... But when it's good, having your best friends at your side is the best feeling in the world. It's just hard to balance all the feelings and your time. Am I right?"

"Yeah..."

"The best things in life... Are fragile. They need to be handled with care, even if that sounds a little weird. Bitbeasts, friendships... Love..."

Both of them turned their heads away with a playful snort.

And cheeks as red as the last, dying ounce of the sunset.

"Well... Yeah. Alright. I get it. ...When did you get so smart Hilary?"

"I've been thinking about it-Wait! WHAT? I WAS ALWAYS SMART YOU ASSHOLE!"

Tyson jumped out of the way with a loud-ass laugh and slapped his cap back on his head. Scooping Dragoon out of the sand where Hilary had placed it he thumbed his lips and grinned down at her.

"Yeah; I know. Thanks for the stew, Hilary... It means a lot."

The flush on her face was getting bigger...

"You're... Welcome, Tyson." She didn't think bringing him a bowl of soup was the only thing he meant.

"I'm gonna go see if Lee still has two balls; when I get back, we can walk back to the chalets together. Sound good?"

Her red face grinned up at him.

"Sounds good, Tyson."

_'You're an idiot... But I'm glad you're my idiot. ...And that, too, is going to stay a secret.'_


End file.
